Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Beer Whisperer India Pale Ale

After my first IPA failure, I am attempting to fulfill my quest to make amends to the beer gods by producing an India Pale Ale better than I have ever produced. No biggie, you say, but my IPAs have been the most consistently good beers I have ever made. I admittedly went overboard on the alcohol on my last IPA attempt, rounding out at about 7% alcohol by volume. This time I have gone for around the 5.5% mark, still strong enough to call itself an IPA, but with enough margin of error to be less likely to fail.

But before I get down to the grisly details, what exactly is an IPA?? I'm glad you asked, even if you didn't.

According to the Craft Beer Academy, the India Pale Ale was invented by the British to preserve beer for the long trip from England to India. Five months in a hot boat tends to make beer a bit ordinary, so what to do about this crime against humanity?? Make it more alcoholic, of course! And that's what I'd do, but just because more alcohol. Oh, and hops. Lots of hops.

So what did I do this time around to appease the beer gods for my beer sins? (no, no, not the James Bond Party incident. That was da evil cocktails. Beer was innocent, I tells ya!).

It's not your typical yeast for an IPA, but as a high gravity Belgian yeast, it is ideal for stronger ales, and the serious awesomeness of this yeast promises to make this a beer to remember! And to top it off, unlike last time, I now have a beer fridge with thermostat to control the temperature to a constant degree. With an original gravity of 1050, assuming a final gravity of 1010, this beer should bottle at around 5.6%, be quite malty, and with a fine robust yeast to top it off.